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Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Kreider knows he has to re-earn spot with Rangers

Chris Kreider got a welcome-back present to the Rangers in the form of a puck to the mouth that deflected off Anton Stralman’s stick early in Wednesday’s informal skate. Kreider emerged later to finish the session with stitches on the right side of upper lip.

Kreider, 21, spent the lockout playing for the Connecticut Whale (AHL), though not putting up impressive numbers. The left wing has five goals and seven assists with 55 penalty minutes in 33 games and is a minus-6 as he’s averaging two shots on goal per game.

So Kreider’s whirlwind introduction to professional hockey continues after he signed with the Rangers following his junior season at Boston College after he won his second NCAA title in three seasons. Thrust into the Rangers’ playoff lineup, Kreider responded with five goals and two assists in 18 postseason games. Then came the 113-day lockout and his minor-league assignment. Now, he’s back skating with the Rangers, who will open training camp on Sunday.

“I don’t even know what’s normal anymore,” Kreider joked. “I show up, play hockey, work hard. Keep it simple.”
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Jokes aside, not to mention below-expectation production, Kreider put a positive spin on his time with the Whale.

“Yeah, I would have been happy regardless,” Kreider said. “I get to play hockey, this is my first pro season, obviously there’s a ton to learn. I was excited going into the situation regardless of what was going to happen. The opportunity to play with a lot of guys my own age, guys moving up, it was a ton of fun and it was a really good group.”

With so many talented young players in the AHL since they couldn’t play in the NHL until now, the quality of play was up. Not that Kreider has a frame of reference for that after coming out of college.

“I don’t have games so I can’t really speak to it but I can say all the teams we played were extremely good, they had very good players,” Kreider said. “We were constantly talking about how so-and-so would be up if there was an NHL so you’re playing very good players on a night-in, night-out basis, with and against you. Obviously, we had a very good team as well.”

Kreider said one thing he needed to learn was the grind of a professional season. The postseason was one matter, preparing to play an 82-game slate is different.

“I think it wasn’t so much the fact that it was playoff hockey, playoff hockey to a regular season schedule was a different mindset,” Kreider said. “Obviously there’s a ton to learn, I’ve never been in a professional regular season before so I just kind of tried to pay attention.”

As for the reduced point production, Kreider is not publicly fretting it.

“Just to concentrate on what I can control,” Kreider said of any feedback from the Whale coaching staff. “Which is winning puck battles, getting pucks out of the zone and finishing checks. I let everything else take care of itself but if you do that and play an honest game, the chances come.”

At the same time, Kreider is not approaching training camp as if his playoff performance guarantees him a roster spot, even if all the pundits (me) have penciled him into the Rangers’ lineup.

“Same thing as it always has been, keep my head down, work hard and try to make the team. That’s all you can do.”

The playoffs? It’s like they never occurred.

“What happened?” Kreider said, feigning amnesia about the playoff run. “Slate’s wiped clean and you have to earn your spot.

“I’m always excited to play hockey,” he added. “Down there I was excited for every single game and I’m excited to try and earn my spot on this team. It’s kind of the same as it always has been. I’m excited to get the opportunity to play professional hockey and try to make the team.”

Posted by Andrew Gross on 01/09 at 10:05 PM

It won’t be long and Kreider will be delivering the GOLD & Silver for the Rangers.

He will be in the top 3 lines, somewhere, if not everywhere before the season is over.

Too much speed and skill to sit on the bench. He will be playing more games as a Ranger than as a Whale.

About

ANDREW GROSS covers the New York Rangers for The Record and Herald News, having joined the North Jersey Media Group in November 2007. Gross also covered the Rangers and New York Jets, as well as St. John’s basketball and Army football, for Gannett Newspapers and The Journal News (N.Y.). He graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a degree in newspaper journalism.